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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY S. HELE-SHAW, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

IN KSTAN D.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters 'Patent No. 503,852, dated August22, 1893.

Application tiled March 26, 1893. Serial No. l67,560. (No model.)

To au whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY SELBY HELE- SHAW, professor of engineering, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at University College,Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Inkstands, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to inkstands in which there is a dipping cup intowhich the pen is dipped, and into which, by the act of dipping, aquantity of ink is forced from the supply of ink in the inkstand. Indevices of this kind, as hitherto constructed, various difficulties havebeen experienced due to variations of temperature and atmosphericpressureand also due to spurting and to the fact that the ink as itrecedes from the dipping cup is very apt to withdraw the ink from thepen, leaving the latter insufficiently charged; and the object of myinvention is to overcome these difficulties and to simplify and cheapenthe construction of inkstands.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a sectional elevation of theinkstand ready for use. Fig. II is a similar view, showing the pen inposition and the dipping cup depressed, and Figs. III and IV showdetails.

l is the containing vessel which is usually made of glass and which isiitted with a cover 2 also usually made of glass, the joint between thecover and container being made with a ring 3 of india-rubber; at thebottom of the container an annular groove 4 is formed in which thedepending flange 5 of an elastic diaphragm 6 fits. The diaphragm is madepreferably of india-rubber and has a central hanged opening which isadapted to t over the lower end of the tube 7. The tube 7 is cone-shapedat the top and forms a dipping cup 8 which is guided in the recess 13formed in the cover. The diameter of the tube 7 is reduced at its lowerend so as to form a seating for the small ball 9 and the passage of thetube is constricted above the ball by the internal projections 10 whichserve to moderate the flow of the ink and to prevent the ball 9 risingtoo high in the tube; a small hole Il is also provided in the'tube abovethe ball. The tube is preferably made of glass. The fiexible diaphragmis provided with a non-return valve 12 which may be conveniently made bycutting the rubber as shown in Figs. III and IV.

VThe action is as followsz--When the pen 14 is dipped into the dippingcup 8 it depresses the tube 7 and with it the central portion of theflexible diaphragm, with the result that the ink below the diaphragm isexpelled, the greater quantity being forced up the tube 7 into thedipping cup S and some escaping through the hole l1 and valve 12; on thepen being lifted the diaphragm resumes its normal position but the ball9 forms a valve which prevents the sudden withdrawal of the ink from thedipping cup as this would leave the pen insufiiciently charged. The inkdrains away slowly through the hole 1l, and a fresh quantity of ink ndsits Way below the diaphragm through the valve l2 as the diaphragmresumes its normal position.

It will be seen that,in the construction described,a uniform dip isinsured, the pen left properly charged, the tendency to spurt is cheekedand the action is independent of temperature and atmospheric variations.The construction is also considerably cheapened and simpliiied.

In place of a valve 12 a hole smaller in diameter than the bore of thetube 7 below the ball valve 9, may be substituted.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and secureby Letters Patent is I. In combination with an ink container l, aflexible diaphragm 6 provided with a nonreturn valve l2 and havingaperiphery adapted to fit against the inner surface of the container andto inclose a portion of the ink therein below its surface; a tube 7having a hole 1l through the side thereof, the upper end of the tubeforming a dipping cup 8 and the lower end having its bore constrictedand being adapted to t an opening in the center of the diaphragm, and aball valve 9 which normally closes the bore of the tube against I 2-witnesses.

2. n combination with an ink-container and tube 7, a exible diaphragm 6having `a. l v H' S' 'HELESHAW' 5 non-return valve 12 and a, dependingperiph- Witnesses:

eral flange adapted `to fit in an annu'larvgrooyeug f CHARLES CoLmNs,formed in the bottom o the container sub-n Notary Public,Lz'verpooZ.stantially as described and illustra/ced.f c Y J. E. LLOYD BARNES,

In testimonywhereof I have hereuntost Patent Agent, Liverpool.

